The renovation of this elegant Berkshire manor, carried out with exquisite sensitivity and an eye for pattern, colour, and historic detail, called for a landscape that could match the architecture’s charm and character. While the house had been beautifully restored, the surrounding grounds felt unused and disconnected, despite their generous scale and exceptional boundary trees - oak, ash, willow - that form a quiet, protective ring around the property.

The garden’s transformation was guided first and foremost by planting. Rather than imposing extensive new hard landscaping, the design focused on revealing the site’s inherent beauty and creating a coherent strategy across its three acres. The goal was to reconnect spaces, restore rhythm, and cultivate a sense of place through planting that is immersive, generous, and emotionally resonant.

A series of distinct yet interconnected garden areas now weave through the landscape. A new vegetable garden and orchard - home to magnificent old pleached apple trees - reintroduce seasonality and productivity. Lounging, play, and dining spaces are positioned according to sunlight and the architectural lines of the house, ensuring every area feels purposeful and naturally placed.

At the heart of the garden lies a wide, contemplative ornamental space visible from many rooms of the house. Deep, lush borders unfold in layered palettes that shift throughout the year, from early seasonal structure to abundant summer texture and autumnal warmth. Multi-stem trees punctuate these borders, creating an intermediate canopy that bridges the garden’s abundant planting with the surrounding woodland and mature boundary trees.

The result is a landscape defined by atmosphere and harmony - a garden shaped by plants, movement, and light, where every space has meaning and every season brings renewed delight.